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MLR: What do you do? GD: I’m the general manager of the Last Run Inn here at Snowlbowl. MLR: GD: I was born in Texas. But I moved to MLR: Did you like living in a logging town? GD: Yes, it was great to be out in the woods. I spent a lot of time outdoors, hunting and fishing. MLR: What did you think about the logging? GD: I wasn’t an environmentalist’s back then, but some of the stuff I saw made me sick. It was rape and Run. When I was about 18 years old I’d sometimes pull out stakes when they tried to build new logging roads. This was back in the 70’s before I ever heard of Edward Abbey or Earth First! MLR: It has been said that you think that people are crazy for sitting in Charlie’s when they could be up here above the haze of GD: Charlie and I share customers. We see ourselves as kind of a sister Bar to Charlie’s. Mike, this is a neighborhood ski area. This is not Big Sky. Many of the people who come up here are the same people you see in town every day. They work for the government or the University. Some of the people up here skiing today work for minimum wage, or are seasonal workers, like fire fighters, biologists, guides and tree planters. It’s a very diverse group of people, all ages. You don’t have to be a trustfunder or a rich bastard to ski at Snowbowl. Some of the kids work up here all summer to score a season pass. We even have cheaper Pabst Blue Ribbon than Charlie’s. MLR: This is a small ski area, is the skiing as good as those big fancy places? GD: Our slopes are what they call top heavy. There is not a lot of intermediate skiing here. It’s all very challenging. The lift lines are short, and you can get in a good day of high elevation skiing. People don’t come here for beer and pizza. They come here because it’s close to town and the snow is good and they can hang out with their friends. MLR: So you would say that the ski bum culture is alive and well at Snowbowl? GD: Well, it’s not like it used to be. We don’t have very many people sleeping in their trucks anymore. I’d say it has evolved, but it is still very much alive. MLR: You were a big fan of Ed Abbey, right? GD: Yes, I go down to the Four Corners every year when we shut the ski area down, which might be this weekend unless we get more snow. I usually hang out in the Canyonlands or the Escalante, but lots of other places, too. I always take some of Ed’s books with me. MLR: GD: Hard to say; we have so many. What’s happening in Libby with W.R. Grace is a big one. Those folks were hard working Salt of the Earth people. The whole town has been destroyed. And Plum Creek, of course. What they did up the MLR: Is there anything that gives you hope? GD: Yes. The Milltown Dam coming down. Cleaning up mining waste will create more jobs and be better for everyone than opening new mines. We passed a ban on Cyanide Heap-Leach Gold Mining in the last election, again. We got a new Governor who wants to work for the people. And now we have all these watchdog groups in
GD: Awesome. By far, Jake and Heather’s wedding was the best of the whole summer. We are usually booked solid, so I host a lot of weddings, and I know a good one. Jake’s was really big for this place, over 250 people. Denny MLR: How did you like my smoked salmon and buffalo? GD: Awesome! Very good. Almost as good as mine. MLR: Last question. People say you make the best wood-fired pizza in
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